X-ray examining table with detachable fluoroscopic tunnel tower



Jan. 19, 1965 Filed Oct. 20. 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet l FLUOROSCOPIC TUNNEL TOWER INVENTOR. JOHN J. VLACH FRAgS ALFONS MARIA MOREL ATTORNEYS Jan. 19, 1965 F. A. M. MOREL ETAL 3,166,671

X-RAY EXAMINING TABLE WITH DETACHABLE FLUOROSCOPIC TUNNEL TOWER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 20. 1961 vii INVENTOR.

JOHN J. VLACH LFONS MARIA MOREL FRANS A BY w MF ATTORNEYS 1965 F. A. M. MOREL ETAL 3,165,671

X-RAY EXAMINING TABLE wmx DETACHABLE FLUOROSCOPIC TUNNEL TOWER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 20. 1961 INVENTOR. JOHN J. VLACH EQ ANS ALFONS MARIA MOREL ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,166,671 X-RAY EXAMENHNG TABLE WITH DETACHABLE FLUGROSCGPW TUNNEL TGWER Frans Alfons Maria Morel, Antwerp, Belgium, and lohn J. Vlach,.Concord, Mass, assignors, by inesne assignments, to Laboratory for Electronics, Inc, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 20, 1961, Scr. No. 146,495 6 Claims. (Cl. 250- 31) This invention relates in general to diagnostic X-ray equipment and, more particularly, to a detachable fluoroscopic tunnel tower for use in conjunctionwith an X-ray examining table.

X-ray fluoroscopy is now a common diagnostic medical technique. In this technique the patient being examined is placed on an X-ray examining table and the X-ray image is produced .visually on a fluoroscopic screen enabling the examining radiologist to observe instantaneously any changes which are occurring. In addition, the radologist may scan the X-ray generator and fluoroscopic screen over various body areas of the patient obtaining instantaneous images of various areas of the patient. Some diagnostic procedures, such as myelographic studies, call for varying the horizontal position of the patient in conjunction with scanning or single position flnoroscopy and for this purpose the X-ray examining tables are generally capable of being automatically tilted to varying vertical or Trendelenburg positions up to a 90 straight vertical or 90 straight Trendelenburg position. The equipment used for carrying out these procedures generally includes an X-ray generator mounted within the table and adapted to traverse the length and width of the table and a fluoroscopic unit, commonly referred to as a fluoroscopic tunnel, mounted above the patient for convenient viewing by the examining radiologist. The fluoroscopic tunnel also usually includes an arrangement for semiautomatically injecting an X-ray film into position so that the radiologist may make a permanent record of any significant view which appears on the fluoroscopic screen. The fluoroscopic tunnel has, in the past, generally been supported upon a tower mounted up on the X-ray table in such a fashion that it may be moved longitudinally or transversely on the table in conjunction with movements of the X-ray generator. Since the fluoroscopic tunnel and the X-ray generator must be capable of being maintained in position while the X-ray table is bing tilted, then these units must be counterbalanced. In addition, the tunnel must be capable of movement toward and away from the surface of the table on which the patient is placed and this motion, too, must be counterbalanced. The examining radiologist, in moving the tunnel and X-ray generator from one position to another on the table, must then move a mass composed of the sum of the weights of all of these units, that is, the tunnel, the tower, the carriage containing the X-ray generator and they counterweights. In a typical example,

. the tunnel might weigh 110 lbs. and, hence, its counterweightwould also have to weigh 110 lbs. and the combinedweight of the supporting tower, the generator carriage and the generator might be 165 lbs. and, hence, the corresponding counterweight in the table for all these units would be 385 lbs. 'Thetotal weight, then, required to be moved by the radiologist is 770 lbs. This total weight represents significant disadvantage to a radiologist in terms of fatigue encountered in scheduling a long series of examinations.

Another disadvantage in this arrangement lies in the limitations it places on the use ofthe general X-ray equipment. The radiologists equipment is used not only for fluoroscopic examinations but also for non-fluoroscopic radiography in which the X-ray generator is mounted above the patient and the X-ray films are mounted in a bucky carriage'within the table and beneath the patient. Forthis latter type of examination, the fluoroscopic tunnel and tower are not used at all by the radiologist and, hence, their presence as an attachment to the table is an unnecessary hindrance to freedom of movement of the radiologist and his equipment around the examining table.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a light-weight fluoroscopic tunnel apparatus which is readily detachable from the X-ray examining table.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a counterbalanced fluoroscopic tunnel for an X-ray examining table which is mounted overhead and detachable from the examining table.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an X-ray fluoroscopic tunnel arrangement for use in conjunction with an X-ray examining table in which the fluoroscopic tunnel may be easily moved longitudinally and transversely to any position on the examining table and in which the tunnel is vertically adjustable with respect to the surface of the table with the entire fluoro scopic arrangement being readily detachable from the X-ray examining table.

Broadly speaking, in the present invention the X-ray fluoroscopic tunnel is mounted to a supporting tower suspended from a ceiling unit containing a spring counterbalance for the weight of both the tunnel and the tower. The tower is attachable to an X-ray generator carriage within the examining table in a manner which permits vertical movement of the tower and, hence, the tunnel with respect to the top of the X-ray table and. longitudinal and transverse movement of the tower and tunnel in conjunction with longitudinal and transverse movement of the X-ray generator carriage. The ceiling mounted counterbalance unit is also adapted for movement both transversely and longitudinally of the X-ray examining table. The mechanical connection between the generator carriage and the tunnel tower also carriesthe electrical connections for providing power and control signals to the fluoroscopic tunnel. Since the fluoroscopic tunnel is not moved with respect to the tower but rather the tower and and tunnel move as a unit vertically, then no counterbalance for the tunnel need be included in the tower. Hence, in a typical example, the combined weight of Y the tower and tunnel is lbs. and the weight of the of the fluoroscopic equipment and counterweights including the generator and carriage to be moved by the radiologist would amount to approximately 390 lbs. The

radiologist, then, is required to move slightly more than one-half the weight necessary for moving a conventional apparatus and his efiiciency is thereby considerably improved in terms of fatigue factors. In addition, the entire fluoroscopic tunnel and tower may be detached from the table and. raised until it contacts the lower portion of the overhead counterbalance unit for storage, thus leaving the examining table entirely free and clear for other radiological procedures not involving the fluoroscopic units.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration in perspective view from the front of the X-ray table with the fluoroscopic tower and tunnel of this invention attached;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the tunnel supporting tower with the tunnel removed in order to illustrate the detail of the tower construction;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the tower of FIG. 3 rotated 90 to the right having a broken-away portion to show the detail of the suspending pivot connection and including a portion of the X-ray examining table to which the tower is attached;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the tower of FIG. 3 taken through the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the tower of FIG. 3 taken through the line 6--6 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the connecting arrangement between the suspension and cables and the upper pivot joint of the supporting tower.

With reference now specifically to FIG. 1, an X-ray examining table 11 is shown with a fluoroscopic tunnel 15 mounted above the patient surface 12 of the X-ray table on a supporting tower 16. The supporting tower 16 is suspended from the overhead unit 17 by cables 20 with the overhead unit 17 being mounted on a carriage 13 which is in turn mounted on rails 19. Control switches 21, for operation of the fluoroscopic tunnel are mounted on the upper surface of the tunnel frame 15. Referring to the view of the same apparatus shown in FIG. 2 in conjunction with the view of FIG. 1, it can be seen that the overhead suspension unit 17 is mounted on the carriage 18 such that it may be moved in a direction transverse the longitudinal dimension of the examining table 11 and that the carriage 18 is itself mounted on rails 19 in such a fashion that the carriage 18 may be moved longitudinally with respect to the examining table 11.

The fluoroscopic tunnel 15 is mounted to the supporting tower 16 by a pair of pivoting arms 29 which allow the tunnel to be positioned, as shown, in a plane parallel to the patient surface 12 of the examining table 11 or to be folded into a vertical position in order to provide freedom of movement about the table top when the fluoroscope is not in operation. A flexible cable 25 carries electrical power from the supporting tower 16 to the fluoroscopic tunnel 15.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, front and end views,

respectively, of the supporting tower 16 are shown. The

supporting tower 16 is generally formed as a hollow rectangle with sheet metal channel members forming the four sides of the rectangle. Within the hollow of the rectangle, a generally rectangular connecting panel 36 is arranged for vertical movement within the supporting tower 16. The tower is pivotally supported from above by a hanging strap 27 joined to the support tower 16 by a pivot 35), which turns in a housing with an eccentric hole. By turning the housing it is possible to. adjust the center of gravity of the tunnel and the supporting tower. A pair of channel members 41) and 41 extend within the hollow rectangular center of the support 16 from the top to the bottom with channel member 40 supporting a rail 47 on which the connecting panel 36 is mounted.

The connecting panel 36 is guided on the rail 47 by means of an upper pair of roller bearings 45 and a lower pair of roller bearings 46, each mounted on the back face of the connecting member 36. The front face of the connecting member 36 carries the mechanical and electrical connections for attaching the support tower 16 to the generator carriage 26 within an X-ray examining table. The electrical connections are made by a pair of multicontact electrical connectors 37, while the mechanical attachmentis accomplished by means of a threaded screw 38.

which can be rotated by the operation of a hand wheel 42. The threaded screw 3%? screws into a socket member 80 mounted in the generator carriage 26. The positioning of the connecting panel with respect to the generator carriage 26 is aided by a pair of guide pins 39 which fit into corresponding guide holes within the generator carriage. In addition, a pair of bevelled guide bars 82 above and below the screw member 38 fit into corresponding slots 81 on the generator carriage 26.

The mechanical arrangements for the vertical movement of the connecting panel 36 within the tower frame 16 are most clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6. From these illustrations, it can be seen that in addition to the roller bearings and 46 running on track 47, there are four roller bearings 43 mounted on the left side of connecting panel 36 and running on track 52, which is fastened to supporting tower 16, and four roller bearings 49 mounted on the right side of connecting panel 36 running on track 53, also fastened to tower 16. The position of the connecting panel 36 within the tower support frame 16 is maintained stable by counterbalance Weights formed by the electromagnetic lock units 58. A pair of upper cables 59 are connected through clamping plates 51 to either side of the top of the connecting panel 36. Each of these cables 56 runs over one of a pair of top pulley wheels 56 and down to the top of one of the electromagnetic loclts 56. In addition, a pair of lower cables run from the bottom of the connecting panel 36 around a pair of lower pulley wheels 57 and are connected to the bottom of the electromagnetic lock units 58. The lock units 58 are arranged to be of sufiicient weight to precisely counterbalance the connecting panel 36. Each of the lower pulley wheels 57 are pivotally supported upon bracket members 59, which, in turn, are mounted on the frame of the tower support 16 and the upper pulley wheels 56 are mounted in a similar fashion. A rod 61 extending from the bottom to the top of tower support 16 carries on it a mechanical stop which may be set in a selected position by means of thumb screw 62. This step serves to limit the travel of the tower 16 with respect to the connecting panel 36 and provides a safety limit in myeiographic techniques in order to insure that the tunnel is never lowered too close to the patients back.

The detail of the electromagnetic lock assemblies is most clearly shown in FIG. 5. The electromagnetic locks 53 serve as the counterweighting elements for the connecting panel 36 and, also provide a lock mechanism for maintaining the fluoroscopic tunnel 15 in any vertical position to which it has been adjusted. The locks are actuated from the control switch 21 (FIG. 1) on the fluoroscopic tunnel 15. The electrical connection is formed through a connecting cable 90 between the tunnel and a connecting post 91 at the top of the tower support 16. This electrical connection is then carried down to the locks themselves through the electrical coiled cables 74, which connect within the locks to coils 73. When actuated, a current is passed through the coils setting up a magnetic field through the magnet sections 70 of the locks 58, causing them to be electromagnetically clamped to the magnetically permeable side strips 92. The locks are permitted to travel in the counterweighting movement up and down within the hollow side frame members of supporting tower 16 by means of sets of roller bearings.

7 Typically, as shown in FIG. 5, one pair of roller bearings 72 is mounted parallel with the back and front face of he tower support 16 and bears on the interior wall of the side section. Another pair of roller bearings 71 is mounted at an angle such that they bear on the corners ofthe same side section. At the bottom of the lock a similar set of bearings is mounted and a similar arrangement is provided for the other electromagnetic lock.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the upper portion of the suspension assembly for the supporting tower 16 is shown with the hanging strap 2'7 which is mounted through pivot 30 to the supporting tower 16 being, in turn, supported upon a crossbar 28. The position of the crossbar 28 may be adjusted with respect to the strap 27 to provide for the appropriate center of gravity alignment when the supporting tower 16 'is detached from the X-ray examining table. The crossbar 23 is itself suspended by means of a pivot 24 from a cable T bar 23 to which are clamped a pair of suspension cables 26 by means of clamps 22.

The overall tower and supporting mechanism, then, provides a counterbalanced support for the fluoroscopic tunnel which itself may be either in the horizontal examining position or rotated into the vertical position for clear access to the top of the table. When not in use, the entire fluoroscopic tunnel and supporting tower may be detached and parked by raising it until it is just below the overhead suspension unit 17. In the connected position, the tunnel may be vertically adjusted with respect to the table, since only the connecting panel 36 is fixedly attached to the X-ray generator carriage. In this position, however, the fluoroscopic tunnel and its supporting tower 16 will be moved longitudinally and transversely in conjunction with the X-ray generator carriage within the X-ray examining table, hence, maintaining alignment between the fluoroscopic screen and the X-ray source. Thus, the system described provides for the desired operational features of an attached fluoroscopic tunnel and yet the entire apparatus may readily be detached, including the electrical connections, for remote storage when non-fluoroscopic techniques are being employed with the particular X-ray examining table. While all the units are counterbalanced for fingertip control, nonetheless the total weight of the fluoroscopic structure, which must be moved by the radiologist, has, as mentioned previously, been considerably reduced. Having described the invention, other modifications and departures will now become apparent to those skilled in this art and the invention described herein should be construed as limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. X-ray apparatus for mounting a fluoroscopic tunnel to an X-ray generator carriage within an X-ray examining table comprising, a support tower carrying said fluoroscopic tunnel; ceiling mounted means for pivotally suspending said support tower; a connecting member mounted on said support tower for electrically and mechanically coupling and decoupling said support tower to said X-ray generator carriage in a non pivoting relation, said support tower and said connecting member being slideably adjustable with respect to one another; said fluoroscopic tunnel and said support tower being entirely counterbalanced within said ceiling mounted means.

2. X-ray apparatus for mounting a fluoroscopic tunnel to an X-ray generator carriage within an X-ray examining table comprising, a support tower carrying said fluoroscopic tunnel; ceiling mounted means for pivotally suspending said support tower; a connecting member mounted on said support tower for electrically and mechanically coupling and decoupling said support tower to said X-ray generator carriage, said support tower and said connecting member being slideable adjustable with respect to one another; said fluoroscopic tunnel and said support tower being entirely counterbalanced within said ceiling mounted means, said coupling between said support tower and said X-ray generator carriage being such that when said X-ray generator carriage is moved longitudinally and transversely of said X-ray examining table,

said support tower moves in conjunction with said carriange; said ceiling mounted means being adapted to move longitudinally and transversely of said X-ray examining table in conjunction with motion of said support tower.

3. X-ray apparatus for mounting a fluoroscopic tunnel to an X-ray generator carriage within an X-ray examining table comprising, a support tower carrying said fluoroscopic tunnel, said fluoroscopic tunnel being coupled to said support tower in such a fashion that in one position said fluoroscopic tunnel is in a plane parallel to the patient surface of said X-ray examining table and in another position said fluoroscopic tunnel is in a plane normal to the plane of said patient surface; a ceiling mounted counterbalance means; cable means suspending said support tower from said ceiling mounted counterbalance means, said ceiling mounted counterbalance means being adapted to entirely counterbalance the weight of said fluoroscopic tunnel and said support tower; rail means fastened to said support tower; a connecting panel mounted on said rail means for vertically adjustable movement with respect to said support tower; coupling means included within said connecting panel and adapted to engage and disengage said X-ray generator carriage, said coupling means when engaged to said X-ray generator carriage being adapted to mechanically and electrically couple said connecting panel to said X-ray generator carriage and when disengaged from said X-ray generator carriage to provide that said connecting panel, said fluoroscopic tunnel and said support tower are entirely separate from said X-ray generator carriage.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said coupling means comprises, a screw member mounted on said connecting panel and adapted to engage a corresponding threaded recess within said X-ray generator carriage; multiple pin electrical connectors mounted on said connecting panel and adapted to engage corresponding electrical receptacle connectors mounted on said X-ray generator carriage and mechanical guide means for aligning said multiple pin connectors with said receptacles.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 and including electromagnetic lock assemblies within said support tower; actuating means for actuating said electromagnetic lock assemblies to maintain said connecting panel at the vertical position to which it is then adjusted, said electromagnetic lock assemblies being arranged to serve, when not actuated, as a counterbalance for said connecting panel with respect to said supporting tower.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said actuating means comprise manually operable electrical switches mounted on said fluoroscopic tunnel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,737,596 Haupt et a1. Mar. 6, 1956 2,841,714 Vaughn July 1, 1958 2,841,717 Kiyaur July 1, 1958 2,842,676 Schiring et al. July 8, 1958 2,997,585 Schiring Aug. 22, 1961 3,013,155 Schiring Dec. 12, 1961 

1. X-RAY APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING A FLUOROSCOPIC TUNNEL TO AN X-RAY GENERATOR CARRIAGE WITHIN AN X-RAY EXAMINING TABLE COMPRISING, A SUPPORT TOWER CARRYING SAID FLUOROSCOPIC TUNNEL; CEILING MOUNTED MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY SUSPENDING SAID SUPPORT TOWER; A CONNECTING MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT TOWER FOR ELECTRICALLY AND MECHANICALLY COUPLING AND DECOUPLING SAID SUPPORT TOWER TO SAID X-RAY GENERATOR CARRIAGE IN A NON PIVOTING RELATION, SAID SUPPORT TOWER AND SAID CONNECTING MEMBER BEING SLIDEABLE ADJUSTABLE WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER; SAID FLUOROSCOPIC TUNNEL AND SAID SUPPORT TOWER BEING ENTIRELY COUNTERBALANCED WITHIN SAID CEILING MOUNTED MEANS. 